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As conflict continues in the Middle East, a prominent tourist hotspot known for its luxury lifestyle and influencer presence was hit, with defenses intercepting incoming missiles and drones.
Influencers based in Dubai spoke with Fox News Digital about daily life in the city and why they remain comfortable living there amid the ongoing conflict. The former U.S. residents described Dubai as safer than many U.S. cities.
“I always say this: You could carry two million dollars cash with you in any part of Dubai, absolutely nothing would ever happen to you. I don’t think I could ever do that in a major U.S. city, ever, you know. That would not be possible in my mind,” Mike Babayan said.
Mike Babayan, known as “nitrotrades” on Instagram and TikTok, is a social media influencer in the financial world from Los Angeles, who has been living in Dubai since 2020. He used to split his time between LA and Dubai, and now resides in Dubai full-time.
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Babayan shared that he has felt calm even after the attacks. Babayan spoke with Fox News Digital on-camera on March 5, and since the interview shared that he still feels safe.
“There’s this whole notion going around that what used to be the safest place in the world is no longer safe. But I think nobody really feels that’s changed really.”
The U.S. State Department is urging Americans in the Middle East to leave the region immediately as escalating conflict and widespread airspace closures disrupt travel and evacuation efforts. However, attacks from Iran, closed embassies and shuttered airspace have created difficulties for Americans who find themselves trapped with few options.
Iran responded to the American and Israeli attacks almost immediately, raining missile and drone strikes across the United Arab Emirates, even hitting Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world.
Meanwhile, Babayan said life is continuing like normal.
“If you even look out the window, like right now, people are walking on the streets, cars are packed, you know, it’s, life is going on as usual,” he said.
However, Hofit Golan shared a slightly different perspective. Golan is an influencer who is doing work in longevity and biohacking in Dubai, and is from Israel, raised in Canada and the United States. Golan lived in Miami prior to moving to Dubai in December of last year. Golan provided comments to Fox News Digital about her experience in the region.
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Golan said Dubai is currently very quiet, and it reminded her of the coronavirus lockdowns because of the lack of tourism in comparison to normal.
Golan said that she is enjoying the “stillness” of Dubai.
“The city is more quiet. It’s a little bit more subdued. But it’s also Ramadan and people are fasting, and it’s a holy time, so they wouldn’t really be out in the streets like normal.”
Babayan observed that, “people are calm.”
“Everyone is as calm as they can be. You’re not experiencing that firsthand, I want to say, whenever you’re downtown or any of these major areas in Dubai. So to you, it just feels like life is normal.”
However, the night of the attacks was when Babayan described feeling a difference in Dubai.
“It was like around midnight, when we heard an interception, which was, you know, that was the first time I really heard anything. So for you to see it on the news, it’s a whole different story compared to seeing it and, you know, in-person just hearing it.”
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Babayan lives in the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s tallest building. He left out of precaution but later returned.
“But after that, I just came back, and the next night I was just like, everything’s calm. I don’t see any issues.”
Babayan said that people were asking how he was doing and were falling for AI-generated videos.
“I even remember that first night after I came back home, like, I was sleeping, and I woke up, my phone was getting blown up. Like, people are like, ‘Yo, your apartment just got hit,’ and I’m just sitting in the apartment like, looking on my phone, people are sending these AI-generated videos. And I’m like, ‘What are you guys talking about?’”
Golan, who also used to live in London, described Dubai as the safest place she has ever lived.
“Within 24 to 48 hours, two things happened,” Golan shared following the attacks. “First, I didn’t hear or see many more missiles. Second, we started hearing news reports about all the successful intercepts of the drones and the missiles.”
Golan said that the government was keeping citizens aware of the situation.
“The government had a system that you would receive a text if there was an incoming threat. You were told to seek shelter, avoid glass windows, and as soon as the threat was neutralized you received another message, kind of like an amber alert, saying that it’s safe, and you can go, you know, you can leave the shelter.”
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Golan had a flight scheduled for Feb. 28, planned ahead of the conflict that was canceled, but said she didn’t feel the urgency to leave once it was canceled and strikes occurred.
“I didn’t feel the urge to leave the first week because, to me, it was like you’re safer on the ground than being up in the sky with missiles flying over you,” she said.
As she was driving home, she heard missiles being intercepted.
“I could see from my balcony the billowing smoke,” she recalled. “Not much later, like minutes later, we heard missiles being intercepted.“
Golan said she feels like the government is taking care of the citizens, including with a “very advanced air defense system.”
“If I felt safe before, I feel it even more now, because now I know they have a robust air defense, a strong army, very quick response time, because nobody saw that these missiles were going to come, but they caught them right from the beginning,” Golan said.
The UAE has rules in place where creators can be fined or even jailed for what the government views as spreading misinformation. The UAE has said, “spreading rumors or unverified information in the UAE is a crime punishable by law.”
According to The Telegraph, Radha Stirling, the chief executive of campaign group Detained In Dubai, said, “almost anything critical of government policy or regional conflict can be interpreted as a crime.”
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According to Gulf News, penalties can reach one year in prison and a fine of at least Dh100,000. Punishment can be more severe with up to two years in prison and a minimum fine of Dh200,000.
Both Babayan and Golan spoke on this.
Golan said, “I actually really respect these rules. I think there’s sense to them and I think other countries can adopt that too, because freedom of speech is not free, and you need to face consequences because spreading misinformation or spreading fear or sensitive information in the middle of a war can have negative consequences that don’t serve anybody.“
Babayan said, “I’ve been speaking my mind freely,” and believes all content creators have been as well.
Furthermore, a trend is circulating across social media of influencers posting scenic views of Dubai with a caption that appears, asking: “You live in Dubai, aren’t you scared? With a follow-up from the creators saying, “No, because I know who protects us.”
The words appear on top of images of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, as well as his son, Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Minister of Defense of the United Arab Emirates. This has caused some to question if this is a propaganda campaign to promote an image of safety in the region, in the midst of the conflicts.
On the push by the UAE to prevent the spread of panic and misinformation, Babayan said, “What’s happening essentially is they’re just saying don’t spread misinformation.”
Citizens, residents and visitors who create content that includes advertising within the UAE are required to hold a permit. This includes content creators promoting services or products or content paid for or free.
Since Feb. 28, the UAE has intercepted 314 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,672 drones so far, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Eight people have been killed in Iranian attacks in the UAE, including two army soldiers, according to the UAE defense ministry, published in Reuters.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in an X post that the government has “implement[ed] evacuation plans and facilitate[d] the return of around 500 UAE golden visa holders and residents stranded abroad.”
The post said the actions are “part of ongoing efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of all who live in the UAE, at all times and wherever they may be.”
The UAE closed its airspace Tuesday after threats from incoming missile and drone threats from Iran opening operations shortly after, Reuters reported.
Fox News’ Amalia Roy and Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.
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